日本語 English
| 開講年度/ Academic YearAcademic Year |
20262026 |
| 科目設置学部/ CollegeCollege |
文学部/College of ArtsCollege of Arts |
| 科目コード等/ Course CodeCourse Code |
AM108/AM108AM108 |
| テーマ・サブタイトル等/ Theme・SubtitleTheme・Subtitle |
Mayhem, Madness, and the Mind of the American Antihero (2): John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces |
| 授業形態/ Class FormatClass Format |
対面（全回対面）/Face to face (all classes are face-to-face)Face to face (all classes are face-to-face) |
| 授業形態（補足事項）/ Class Format (Supplementary Items)Class Format (Supplementary Items) |
|
| 授業形式/ Class StyleCampus |
演習・ゼミ/SeminarSeminar |
| 校地/ CampusCampus |
池袋/IkebukuroIkebukuro |
| 学期/ SemesterSemester |
秋学期/Fall semesterFall semester |
| 曜日時限・教室/ DayPeriod・RoomDayPeriod・Room |
金4/Fri.4 Fri.4 ログインして教室を表示する（Log in to view the classrooms.） |
| 単位/ CreditsCredits |
22 |
| 科目ナンバリング/ Course NumberCourse Number |
EAL3813 |
| 使用言語/ LanguageLanguage |
その他/OthersOthers |
| 履修登録方法/ Class Registration MethodClass Registration Method |
その他登録/"Other" Registration"Other" Registration |
| 配当年次/ Assigned YearAssigned Year |
配当年次は開講学部のR Guideに掲載している科目表で確認してください。配当年次は開講学部のR Guideに掲載している科目表で確認してください。 |
| 先修規定/ Prerequisite RegulationsPrerequisite Regulations |
|
| 他学部履修可否/ Acceptance of Other CollegesAcceptance of Other Colleges |
履修登録システムの『他学部・他研究科履修不許可科目一覧』で確認してください。 |
| 履修中止可否/ Course CancellationCourse Cancellation |
×（履修中止不可/ Not eligible for cancellation） |
| オンライン授業60単位制限対象科目/ Online Classes Subject to 60-Credit Upper LimitOnline Classes Subject to 60-Credit Upper Limit |
|
| 学位授与方針との関連/ Relationship with Degree PolicyRelationship with Degree Policy |
各授業科目は、学部・研究科の定める学位授与方針（DP）や教育課程編成の方針（CP）に基づき、カリキュラム上に配置されています。詳細はカリキュラム・マップで確認することができます。 https://www.rikkyo.ac.jp/about/disclosure/educational_policy/arts.html |
| 備考/ NotesNotes |
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
1.Analyze satire as a mode of cultural and philosophical critique.
2.Examine the American antihero as a response to modernity, capitalism, and mass culture.
3.Perform close readings of narrative voice, irony, and comic excess.
4.Situate Toole’s novel within Southern, postwar, and countercultural traditions.
5.Articulate how madness operates socially, not just clinically, in American literature.
Part two of this course turns from the institutional confinement in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to social, economic, and cultural chaos in John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces (1980). Through sustained close reading, students will examine Ignatius J. Reilly as a grotesque American antihero whose intellectual pretensions, reactionary politics, and bodily obsessions expose contradictions in modern American life. The course situates the novel within traditions of satire, Menippean comedy, and Southern literature, while also considering madness, failure, and resistance outside of formal institutions.
| 1 | Week 1 – From Institution to City: Enter the Antihero Reading: Ch.1 (pg. 1-24) Guided reading. Introduces Ignatius J. Reilly and frames New Orleans as a chaotic, theatrical social space rather than a controlled institution. |
| 2 | Week 2 – Ignatius J. Reilly: Body, Mind, and Excess Reading: Ch.2 (pg. 25-50) Examines Ignatius’s grotesque body, digestive obsessions, and medieval worldview as comic and philosophical devices. |
| 3 | Week 3 – Satire and Menippean Tradition Reading: Ch. 3 (pg. 51-70) Situates the novel within the Menippean satirical tradition, blending high intellectualism with low comedy. |
| 4 | Week 4 – Mother, Son, and American Infantilism Reading: Chapters 4 and 5 (pg. 71-111) Analyzes family dynamics, dependency, and generational conflict as forms of psychological and cultural stagnation. |
| 5 | Week 5 – Work, Capitalism, and Refusal Reading: Ch. 6 (pg. 112-131) Explores Ignatius’s sabotage of labor, bureaucracy, and productivity as parody of American work culture. |
| 6 | Week 6 – Sexuality, Morality, and Hypocrisy Reading: Ch. 7 (pg. 132-158) Interrogates sexual repression, moral panic, and performative virtue in mid-century America. |
| 7 | Week 7 – Women, Power, and Counter-Narratives Reading: Chapters 8 and 9 (pg. 159-201) Examines Myrna as ideological foil, feminist counterpoint, and destabilizing voice within the novel. |
| 8 | Week 8 – Race, Class, and Social Satire Reading: Ch. 10 (pg. 202-223) Analyzes the novel’s treatment of race, exploitation, and social invisibility through satirical exaggeration. |
| 9 | Week 9 – Madness Without Walls Reading: Ch. 11 (pg. 224-259) Compares Ignatius’s “madness” to institutional insanity in Kesey, emphasizing freedom, chaos, and social dysfunction. |
| 10 | Week 10 – Failure, Rebellion, and the Comic Hero Reading: Ch. 12 (pg. 260-287) Considers failure as resistance and the antihero as a figure who refuses redemption or reform. |
| 11 | Week 11 – Narrative Resolution and Satirical Ethics Reading: Ch. 13 (pg. 288-323) Interrogates whether the novel offers closure, escape, or merely continued absurdity. |
| 12 | Week 12 – Legacy, Cult Status, and the American Comic Tradition Reading: Ch 14. (pg. 324-338) Selected critical essays. Situates A Confederacy of Dunces within American comic literature and its enduring cultural appeal. |
| 13 | Final Presentations (Week 1) |
| 14 | Final Presentations (Week 2) |
板書 /Writing on the Board
スライド（パワーポイント等）の使用 /Slides (PowerPoint, etc.)
上記以外の視聴覚教材の使用 /Audiovisual Materials Other than Those Listed Above
個人発表 /Individual Presentations
グループ発表 /Group Presentations
ディスカッション・ディベート /Discussion/Debate
実技・実習・実験 /Practicum/Experiments/Practical Training
学内の教室外施設の利用 /Use of On-Campus Facilities Outside the Classroom
校外実習・フィールドワーク /Field Work
上記いずれも用いない予定 /None of the above
Each session will involve a lecture component, brief student presentations, and a close reading of the chapters assigned for the week.
Students should be prepared to analyze each of the readings from a number of perspectives.
Also, students will be expected to have read the assigned text(s) prior to each session.
| 種類 (Kind) | 割合 (%) | 基準 (Criteria) |
|---|---|---|
| 平常点 (In-class Points) | 100 |
Oral Presentation(30%) Assignments(30%) 最終レポート(Final Report)(40%) |
| 備考 (Notes) | ||
| No | 著者名 (Author/Editor) | 書籍名 (Title) | 出版社 (Publisher) | 出版年 (Date) | ISBN/ISSN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Kennedy Toole | A Confederacy of Dunces | Penguin | 2000 | 9780141182865 |
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
1.Analyze satire as a mode of cultural and philosophical critique.
2.Examine the American antihero as a response to modernity, capitalism, and mass culture.
3.Perform close readings of narrative voice, irony, and comic excess.
4.Situate Toole’s novel within Southern, postwar, and countercultural traditions.
5.Articulate how madness operates socially, not just clinically, in American literature.
Part two of this course turns from the institutional confinement in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to social, economic, and cultural chaos in John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces (1980). Through sustained close reading, students will examine Ignatius J. Reilly as a grotesque American antihero whose intellectual pretensions, reactionary politics, and bodily obsessions expose contradictions in modern American life. The course situates the novel within traditions of satire, Menippean comedy, and Southern literature, while also considering madness, failure, and resistance outside of formal institutions.
| 1 | Week 1 – From Institution to City: Enter the Antihero Reading: Ch.1 (pg. 1-24) Guided reading. Introduces Ignatius J. Reilly and frames New Orleans as a chaotic, theatrical social space rather than a controlled institution. |
| 2 | Week 2 – Ignatius J. Reilly: Body, Mind, and Excess Reading: Ch.2 (pg. 25-50) Examines Ignatius’s grotesque body, digestive obsessions, and medieval worldview as comic and philosophical devices. |
| 3 | Week 3 – Satire and Menippean Tradition Reading: Ch. 3 (pg. 51-70) Situates the novel within the Menippean satirical tradition, blending high intellectualism with low comedy. |
| 4 | Week 4 – Mother, Son, and American Infantilism Reading: Chapters 4 and 5 (pg. 71-111) Analyzes family dynamics, dependency, and generational conflict as forms of psychological and cultural stagnation. |
| 5 | Week 5 – Work, Capitalism, and Refusal Reading: Ch. 6 (pg. 112-131) Explores Ignatius’s sabotage of labor, bureaucracy, and productivity as parody of American work culture. |
| 6 | Week 6 – Sexuality, Morality, and Hypocrisy Reading: Ch. 7 (pg. 132-158) Interrogates sexual repression, moral panic, and performative virtue in mid-century America. |
| 7 | Week 7 – Women, Power, and Counter-Narratives Reading: Chapters 8 and 9 (pg. 159-201) Examines Myrna as ideological foil, feminist counterpoint, and destabilizing voice within the novel. |
| 8 | Week 8 – Race, Class, and Social Satire Reading: Ch. 10 (pg. 202-223) Analyzes the novel’s treatment of race, exploitation, and social invisibility through satirical exaggeration. |
| 9 | Week 9 – Madness Without Walls Reading: Ch. 11 (pg. 224-259) Compares Ignatius’s “madness” to institutional insanity in Kesey, emphasizing freedom, chaos, and social dysfunction. |
| 10 | Week 10 – Failure, Rebellion, and the Comic Hero Reading: Ch. 12 (pg. 260-287) Considers failure as resistance and the antihero as a figure who refuses redemption or reform. |
| 11 | Week 11 – Narrative Resolution and Satirical Ethics Reading: Ch. 13 (pg. 288-323) Interrogates whether the novel offers closure, escape, or merely continued absurdity. |
| 12 | Week 12 – Legacy, Cult Status, and the American Comic Tradition Reading: Ch 14. (pg. 324-338) Selected critical essays. Situates A Confederacy of Dunces within American comic literature and its enduring cultural appeal. |
| 13 | Final Presentations (Week 1) |
| 14 | Final Presentations (Week 2) |
板書 /Writing on the Board
スライド（パワーポイント等）の使用 /Slides (PowerPoint, etc.)
上記以外の視聴覚教材の使用 /Audiovisual Materials Other than Those Listed Above
個人発表 /Individual Presentations
グループ発表 /Group Presentations
ディスカッション・ディベート /Discussion/Debate
実技・実習・実験 /Practicum/Experiments/Practical Training
学内の教室外施設の利用 /Use of On-Campus Facilities Outside the Classroom
校外実習・フィールドワーク /Field Work
上記いずれも用いない予定 /None of the above
Each session will involve a lecture component, brief student presentations, and a close reading of the chapters assigned for the week.
Students should be prepared to analyze each of the readings from a number of perspectives.
Also, students will be expected to have read the assigned text(s) prior to each session.
| 種類 (Kind) | 割合 (%) | 基準 (Criteria) |
|---|---|---|
| 平常点 (In-class Points) | 100 |
Oral Presentation(30%) Assignments(30%) 最終レポート(Final Report)(40%) |
| 備考 (Notes) | ||
| No | 著者名 (Author/Editor) | 書籍名 (Title) | 出版社 (Publisher) | 出版年 (Date) | ISBN/ISSN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Kennedy Toole | A Confederacy of Dunces | Penguin | 2000 | 9780141182865 |